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Peter Diamandis on Passion, Leadership & the Inspiration Behind the X PRIZE Plus the Best Advice He���s Ever Given and Gotten N&V: How did you come up with the X Prize? My good friend Gregg Maryniak gave me a copy of The Spirit of St. Louis when I was trying to finish my pilot���s license. I learned that Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1927 to win a $25,000 prize. I became enamored with the power of incentivized prizes to drive breakthroughs and new technologies and, in the course of reading the book, the idea of creating a $10 million prize for suborbital flight to inspire a new generation of spaceship came to mind. I called it the X PRIZE because I didn���t know who the name of the sponsor was that would put up the $10 million. X stood for a variable to be replaced by that sponsor. X stood for the Roman numeral 10 for $10 million. X stood for experimental. X stood for��� N&V: Describe the culture of the organization? The culture we inspire here at X PRIZE is focused on making the impossible possible. Our goal is to really think in an objective, measurable fashion. Whenever we take on a new project, we set clear objectives for what we want to achieve and we set bold objectives for what is possible and incentivize people to achieve them. N&V: What kind of leader are you? What traits do you think a successful leader needs to have? I consider myself a leader who leads by passion and by vision, someone who is willing to work as hard as everyone else, loves to give credit where credit is due and recognizes people for their extraordinary support. Today in society, when anything is possible, I think leaders need to have a bold vision that inspires people, allows them to dream and to not only feel like they���re successful, but also have a significant impact on the world. 36 FEDA New s & View s N&V: How important is creativity in your work? Creativity is the single most important thing that I have. As an entrepreneur, in my role as chairman of X PRIZE and as chairman of Singularity, my ability to envision what does not exist and use my passion and drive to get others to help support that vision and make it reality is what I do. I love the creative process, and I love the entrepreneurial process. The two go hand and hand for me. N&V: How do you know when it���s time to move on to the next thing, whether it���s time to retire a product, service or job? When it���s no longer fun. When you���re bored. When you���re not growing. When it���s not part of what makes you happy or drives you with passion. Life is short (until you extend it) and today people can have multiple careers literally doing anything. Find something that inspires you, find something that you���re passionate about, find something that is an adventure and stretches you every day. N&V: What���s the best advice you were ever given? Many years ago I wrote a poster called Peter���s Laws, which summarizes all of the advice that I have been given and offer these days. Following is a current list: 1. If anything can go wrong, FIX IT!! To hell with Murphy! 2. When given a choice, take both!! 3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes. 4. Start at the top. Then work your way up. 5. Do it by the book���but be the author! 6. When forced to compromise, ask for more. 7. If you can���t win, change the rules. 8. If you can���t change the rules, then ignore them. 9. Perfection is not optional. 10. When faced without a challenge, make one. 11. ���No��� simply means begin again at one level higher. 12. Don���t walk when you can run. 13. When in doubt: THINK! 14. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing. 15. The squeaky wheel gets replaced. 16. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live. continued on page 47 About the 2013 FEDA Keynote Dr. Peter Diamandis is the chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation (www.xprize.org), a nonprofit focused on designing and launching large incentive prizes to drive radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Diamandis is also an international leader in the commercial space arena, having founded and run many of the leading entrepreneurial companies in this sector. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received his undergraduate degree in molecular genetics and graduate degree in aerospace engineering. After MIT, Diamandis attended Harvard Medical School where he received his M.D. His personal motto is, ���The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!��� Find out why FEDA���s keynote speaker believes the future is going to be much better than naysayers think at the annual convention, April 3-7 in San Antonio.